Saturday, May 7, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

I’ll say it today because I don’t know how many mother’s will be online tomorrow or for how long. Some of us will be eating out at restaurants if our loved ones made reservations early enough. Others will be invited to eat with family. The rest of us have to cook, as usual, and clean, because our loved ones will be coming to eat and spend the day with us. How nice! I fall into the third category.

I just got done putting up a big pot of a sauce with meatballs. I took a shower and I will be doing a little straightening and cleaning after that. Frankly, I could do without Mother’s Day. When the kids were little, we went over to my mother’s house to visit and eat. They would bring home little gifts and cards they made in school. It was really a celebration.

I remember my first Mother’s Day. My older daughter was just three weeks old. I was so happy because I felt like I waited my whole life to have her, and really I did. I can remember being five years old and thinking, when I grow up I want to be a mother. And, God blessed with me with two beautiful, intelligent, loving, compassionate daughters. They never gave me any trouble really, but they did give me joy and happiness beyond measure.

If someone asked them what kind of mother I was there are a lot of things they might say about me, if you catch them on a bad day. Maybe I smothered them too much. Maybe I was too involved in what was going on in school. Maybe I was too helpful at times, too cautious, too nervous, too critical, too nosy, too overprotective, too domineering, too controlling…..the list goes on and on I’m sure. But, all in all they survived all that, and turned out pretty well.

If you catch them on a good day they might say, my mother loved us more than life itself. She took care of us when we were sick and she knew we were coming down with colds the day before we showed any symptoms. She made every holiday a big celebration, even the ones we didn’t celebrate like Kwanza, Hanukah, and Three Kings Day. They might tell you we always got everything we asked for for our birthdays and Christmas and then some. We never had to take a school bus, she drove us there and picked us up every day. She baked our favorites desserts and cooked our favorite meals, even though she would be content and satisfied to eat a hard boiled egg. She argued with us to wear boots in the snow, to wear hats on our heads, and not to walk barefooted. She tucked us in at night and read us stories. She made sure we took our vitamins, got all our shots, and ate three meals a day. She helped us with homework, studying for tests, writing papers. She encouraged us and supported us and always had good advice, though we would never admit to that. They might even tell you how many times I made them laugh till they cried, intentionally and unintentionally. The list goes on and on, depending what they remember.

I might not have been the best mother in the world, but I am the best mother I know how to be. I live for my girls and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them. Good mother’s everywhere feel that way about their children, it’s nothing special. I came across this quote recently and it is a short and sweet way to sum up what I am trying to say: “A mother is someone who, seeing that there are only 4 pieces of pie for 5 people, promptly declares that she never did care much for pie.”A mother’s love is selfless and unconditional. In my way of thinking, it’s the purest kind of love. A mother is the one person a child can always turn to, who will understand and love them through life’s problems, no matter what. It’s too bad that we sometimes don’t realize a mother’s worth until it’s too late to show her what she means to us. Don’t let it be too late.

Here’s wishing you the Happiest of Mother’s Days and hoping you get a piece of pie.